Ruben Amorim’s future at Manchester United looks shaky after his fiery press conference on Sunday. Sources close to the club say his relationship with director of football Jason Wilcox has hit a rough patch, and that puts his job at risk.

After United’s 1-1 draw at Leeds, Amorim made it clear he wants more control. He doesn’t just want the head coach label—they gave him that when he joined—but he sees himself as the manager. People inside the club say he’s getting tired of being told to be more flexible with his tactics, especially by Wilcox and the rest of the leadership.

If it turns into a power struggle between Amorim and Wilcox, CEO Omar Berrada is expected to side with Wilcox.

Amorim also feels let down by promises the club made about transfers. He expected to shape his squad this window, but now United plans to keep January quiet. Even last summer, Amorim pushed to sign Ollie Watkins, who knows the Premier League, instead of Benjamin Sesko, who’s still finding his feet in England.

United were chasing Antoine Semenyo, who’s now heading to Manchester City, but Amorim thought the £65 million price tag should have gone to strengthen other parts of the team.

Meanwhile, minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said publicly that Amorim deserves the full three years he signed up for back in November 2024. But it’s obvious not everyone in the boardroom agrees. Their doubts show in the way they’re hesitating to spend money or let Amorim have his way, especially since he’s so stuck on playing his 3-4-2-1 system.

Another sign things aren’t right: the board won’t let Kobbie Mainoo leave, even though Amorim’s frozen him out this season. The club still sees Mainoo as important for the future.

During his press conference, Amorim, 40, threw everyone off by hinting he’d be gone when his contract runs out in 2027. He didn’t hold back, saying, “I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the head coach.” He added, “I know my name isn’t Conte, Tuchel, or Mourinho, but I’m the manager here. It’ll stay like this for 18 months, or until the board decides to make a change. I’m not quitting. I’ll do my job until someone else comes in.”

After all that, talkSPORT’s Alex Crook said it reminded him of the Enzo Maresca situation—after a few tough comments, Maresca was out not long after. Journalists around the United States say the relationship between Amorim and Wilcox has gone cold. Crook thinks Amorim’s trying to stamp his authority and probably wants new signings this window, but the board doesn’t want to spend when Amorim might not last.

Crook also questioned the decision to hire Amorim in the first place. Liverpool had interest but walked away because they knew he wouldn’t shift from his rigid back-three, wing-back system, which hasn’t really worked in the Premier League—except for Chelsea that one season. If Liverpool saw the problem, Crook argues, United should have too. And if United wants Amorim’s system, they need to back him with the right players. But by doing that, Crook says, United are betraying its own DNA. This is a club built on wingers, and Amorim doesn’t use wingers at all.

Manchester United’s 1-1 draw at Leeds on Sunday handed them a milestone they’d rather not talk about—it’s been 40 years since something like this happened.

Ruben Amorim’s team moved up to fifth in the Premier League with that point at Elland Road, even though they’ve only managed eight wins in 20 league games.

Brenden Aaronson put Leeds in front just after the hour, pouncing on a bizarre mistake from Ayden Heaven. That lead didn’t last long—three minutes later, Matheus Cunha grabbed the equalizer.

Aaronson’s goal means United have now conceded in 15 straight away games. That's a first for them in Premier League history. The last time they went this long without a clean sheet on the road was back in the 1985/86 season, when Ron Atkinson was in charge.

Defending is a real problem for United right now. No team outside the bottom six has let in as many goals.

Talking to TNT Sports after the draw in West Yorkshire, Amorim said, “I think we played well. We controlled the game better than we did against Wolves, and that’s important—it shows we learned from our mistakes. Leeds are fast up front and dangerous on set pieces and second balls, but we handled it.

“We had our chances to win too. We keep dropping points over little details. Their goal came from one transition when we were in control, but we responded well. Last year, we probably would’ve lost that game. Now, we’re more in control, but it’s frustrating not to win.”

Amorim refused to blame Heaven for the Leeds goal, even though his lapse cost United.

“Ayden and Leny [Yoro] are both really young, but that’s not the reason. You can play well for 90 minutes and still make a mistake. We had chances to score a second, and if we had, no one would be talking about their goal.”

Speaking to BBC’s Match of the Day, he added, “Overall, we had more control and created more chances—we did a lot right, so it’s frustrating not to win. It was a tough match in tough conditions.

“Our game plan was to fix what went wrong against Wolves, and we did. We were in better positions and better organized. Weirdly, Leeds started the second half a bit stronger, but when we’re in control, we have to stay focused on every detail. We’ve seen it before—against West Ham, one lapse and we concede. We have to stay switched on the whole game.

“We kept our heads, got the equalizer, and even had a great chance to win it. I think we deserved a bit more, but that’s football.”